A Study Guide for S. E. Hinton's "Tex"

By Gale and Cengage

A Study Guide for S. E. Hinton's "Tex," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Novels for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Novels for Students for all of your research needs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cengage Learning - Gale
• Release date: Jun 27, 2016
• ISBN: 9781535834810

Book preview

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Tex

S. E. Hinton

1979

Introduction

Susan Eloise Hinton is considered the unquestioned master of young adult (YA) literature. Although not nearly as famous as The Outsiders or Rumble Fish, Hinton's fourth novel, Tex, is deemed by many critics to be her best artistic effort.

Tex explores the same themes of her earlier novels: youth, the loss of innocence, the coming of age, and violence. It also utilizes similar plot devices. Yet this novel differs from earlier efforts because of its inclusion of an articulate female character, Jamie.

The novel chronicles a year in the life of a young, easygoing lad named Tex McCormick. In the course of the book, Tex must face questions about his family's future—particularly his brother's yearning to leave Oklahoma and his father's abandonment. He must also address his burgeoning sexuality and questions about sex and women.

Author Biography

Born in 1950, S. E. Hinton has spent her entire life in Tulsa, Oklahoma. While growing up in Tulsa, Hinton was a keen observer of her friends and fellow classmates. Although not a member of any social clique, she got along well with her schoolmates. As she told William Walsh, "everyone looked at me sort of strangely, but I was